Straight knitting machine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.) I

J. SEYFERT & H. BONNER. STRAIGHT KNITTING MAOHINE. No. 417,514. Patented Dec. 17, 1889.

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v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2..

J.,SEYFERT & H. BONNER.

STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 417.514, A Patented-Dec. 17, 1889.

(No Model.)

Jaye,

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. SEYFERT & H. BONNER. STRAIGHT KNITTING MACHINE.

No. 417514. Patented Dec. 17, 1889.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS SEYFERT AND HERMANN DONNER, OF OI-IEMNITZ, SAXONY, GERMANY.

STRAIGHT-KNITTING .MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,514, dated December 17, 1889.

Application filed July 31, 1889. Serial No. 319,335. (No model.) Patented in Germany May 18, 1889, N0. 49,626,and in England July 8,1889,No.10,974.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JULIUS SEYFERT and HERMANN DONNER, both residents of Chemnitz, Saxony, in the German Empire, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Straight-Knitting Machines, (for which we have received Letters Patent in Germany numbered and dated May 18, 1889, No. 49,626, and in England July 8, 1889, No. 10,974,) of which the following is a clear specification.

Our invention relates to Lamb knittingmachines of the class in which two or more thread-carriers are used for the purpose of manufacturing split knitted wares, such as ribbed stockings, fingers to knitted gloves, and so on. The difficulty in knitting such split wares manufactured by means of several threads and several thread-carriers is the passing from one'part of the knitted ware over to the next. There must naturally be an interruption or separation in the knitted ware; but in order to attain a regular appearance of the knitted ware itis necessary that always the last loop of each edge of each section shall v be formed upon the same needlethat is to say, the border loops of each section must always he formed by the same needles. This effect is attained by knitting-locks provided with a straight leading contrivance operating in combination with several thread-carriers movable in a vertical direction.

The drawings show a knitting-machine with two thread-carriers with which a doubly-divided knitted ware is to be manufactured; but of course the number of the thread-car riers may be augmented as'demanded, the effect and the working of every thread-carrier in respect to the next thread-carrier remaining always the same as that of the first threadcarrier in respect to the second carrier.

Figure 1 is a front View of a Lamb knitting-machine with two thread carriers (1 I), both at rest in their first position, the locks having begun to move from the left toward the right. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan View of a Lamb knitting-machine with two thread-carriers a b, the first carrier ct having finished its movement toward the right and the second carrier b being about to start. As may easily be seen, both thread-carriers stand opposite to one another at this moment. Fig. 4 shows a front view of a Lamb knitting-machine with two thread-carriers a Z), the firsta having finished its movement toward the right and its thread-guide being sunk in its lowest position against the latch -needles, and the second one]; having made a part of its way toward the right. Fig. 5 shows an upper View of the parts shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 shows a plan view of a Lamb knitting-machine with two thread-carriers ct I), both carriers having finished their way to the right side of the machine, carrier I) being ready for moving downward to the needles. Fig. 7 shows a crosssection of the knitting-machine through the line a y of Fig. 3, the standard of the knitting machine being broken away and the locks for moving the needles being omitted for the sake of greater clearness. Both carriers or, b are shown standing at equal height opposite to each other at that height to which they are raised when providing the needles with yarn in passing across the needle-beds. Fig. Sshows a cross-section of the knitting-machine through the line :0 'y of Fig.

4, the standard of the knitting-machine be ing broken away and the locks for moving carrierb is standing in its usual position.

Fig. 9 shows in an upper View the arrangement of the lock for moving the needles and the position of several needles in respect to this look. Fig. 9 is adiagram illustrative of the manner of knitting.

It is supposed that the arrangement of the Lamb knitting-machine is generally known.

In the drawings, A A are the beds of the knitting-machine, on which the needles 0 rest. They are moved up and down by locks L L, which are afterward to be described. The locks L L rest on the beds A A, and are moved in the usual and well-known manner in a'horizontal direction to and fro to the right and to the left. These locks are covered with and attached to frames L L Frame L bears the catch-levers Z Z and frame L bears the catch-levers Z Z, each lever being provided with a tooth a and an inclined projection 6.

The bedsA Aof the knitting-machine bear the guiding-bars 0* r firmly attached to the beds. In these guiding-bars rest the slidebars 1 1*, movable in alongitudinal direction relatively to '7' 1- and to these slide-bars are attached the short plates '7 1*, which bear by means of axles v r the lovers a a Z) b forming the thread-carriers. To the slide-bars r r are firmly attached the blocks 0 c c 0, each provided with a projection 7'. Firmly secured to the guiding-bars r r are the pieces fff which are each provided with the inclined plane 6. The blocks f and f, as also f, are held in their respective places on their guide-bars by means of set-screws, as shown in the case of block f in Fig. 2.

The locks L L move the needles by means of the grooves cut in them as well, and these grooves are arranged in a certain manner that is to say, an inclined groove g is combined with the straight groove g and with the inclined groove 011 each side of the middle line of the lock. The thread-carriers a b are movable on their axles o r, and possess second levers (L 0 Figs. 7 and 8, which are provided with springs 1) p, bearing against small brackets 11 p and they rest always with their arms (Z2 Z) against the bars 11 p" of the locks L L, which are provided with the inclined planes 1) 1), Figs. 7 and S.

The Working of the described arrangement and combination is the following: At first an undivided piece is to beknitted of a breadth from s to 8 Fig. 2, and this is effected in the well-known manner by making all the needles operate from s to s and by feeding them from one tln'ead-carrier a. For this purpose the piece f, sitting on guide-bar 7", must be loosened and taken away. Then both levers Z Z" are permitted to remain in usual connection with their blocks 0 c, Fig. 2, and the lock L, being guided from the left to the right, pushes forward with its lever Z the block 0, connected to the slide-bar 1*", which bears the piece 0', with thread-carrier a, the latter feeding the latch-needles of the knitting-machine with yarn from s to 8 It is assumed that from s to s only a knitted ware shall be manufactured, and that only in this space latch-needles are brought in the position for receiving loops. This is a well-known manner of knitting an undivided strip, forming no part of our invention; but if it is desired that to this undivided strip divided strips attached to the undivided strip are to be manufactured, then our invention comes into play in the following manner: The piece f is firmly attached to the guiding-bar r by screws'in a position, Fig. 2, according to the breadth of the two strips desired in the knitted ware, and now if the lock L is moved from the left, Fig. 2, to the right, Fig. 3, the tln'ead-carrier a feeds the needles from s to s with threads. Then the thread-carrier (0 stands opposite to the second thread-carrier b, and has finished its movement to the right, because the inclined plane of the lever Z on the cover L has met against the piece f and is brought out of connection with the projection c 7. Now the second thread-carrier b, which has been provided with a thread, and which was till this moment at rest, begins to move by means of the action of the lever Z, which pushes forward the block 0 7, firmly attached to the slide-bar r, bearing the piece 0 with thread-carrier b. The thread led by this carrier 1) has been laid before the beginning of the movement (by hand) between the border needle of the first strip and the first needle of the second strip in well-known manner, and now if this threadcarrier begins to move to the right the second section of the knitted ware (s to s sepa-. rated from the part (from s to 5) formed by the first thread and thread-carrier is formed by the second thread and thread-carrier b. lVhile the second thread-carrier b is moved from s, Fig. 3, to the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5, it is necessary that the thread-carrier a should sink down from the position shown in Fig. 7 to the position shown in Fi 8. The reasons for this necessity shall be declared later on, and at first the action shall be described. The sinking down of the thread-carrier a is caused by the inclined plane 1), attached to the lock L, Figs. 4 and 8. The lever a pushes against this inclined plane and lowers the tln'ead-carrier a, Fig. 8, so that it stands closely over or between the latch-needles. This situation of the threadcarrier is shown in Figs. 4, 5, and 8. Vhen the locks L L are moved farther to the right, the thread-carrier a rises again and the threadcarrier Z) reaches at last its extreme position 5 to the right, Fig. 6, where it is arrested by the toe B of lever Z coming against the rounded corner of block f by which the shoulder a' is disconnected from block 0 Then the carrier b begins to sink, and rises again after having fed the last needle of the ware s 8 Now the backward stroke of the knitting-machine to the left begins, and the thread-carrier Z) lays the thread into the needles from 5 back to s, first in moving itself from the position Fig. 6 back to its extreme left positionthat is to say, a little farther back than is shown in Fig. 3, where the carrier has already begun its forward stroke again. The carriers are arrested on reaching their extreme positions by the disengagement of levers Z, Z, 1*, and Z", respectively, in the manner previously described in the case of carrier Z). Now again both thread-carriers a and I) stand opposite to each other, and the lever Zof the lock L and cover L pushes with its inclined plane 9 against the block f 8 and is raised, and the thread-carrier b has finished its movement as far as the needles are concerned. It has manufactured the second division of the divided knitted ware, and now the thread-carrier a begins to move; but

when moving the thread-carrier b is lowered the lever W, as formerl the thread-carrier a has done. The thread-carrier is moved till it has finished the first division of the divided knitted ware and is sunk in'its lowest posi tion just before the border needle caught its thread. WVhen the locks stand at the left outside the needles, both guides are raised again. Now the reasons and the utility for the lowering operation of each thread-carrier after having finished its movement and after having laid its threads in a part of the needles will be described.

If several threadcarriers for a knittingmachine are used, it is necessary that they,

should stand in a sufficiently high position, so that they can move and stand'side by side and opposite to one another and touch neither themselves nor the needles but if the threadcarriers stand at such a height they do not lead the thread so surely as usual and they cannot provide all the needles, including the border needle, with thread with certainty if a certain construction of the lock is not applied and if a lowering of the thread-carrier,

which has finished its movement across the bed of the knitting-machine, is not provided, as clearly may be seen in Fig. 9.

Let it be supposed that 9 is the last needle fed by thread-carrier a for the first division of the divided knitted ware, and that from 1 2', and so on, the needles are to be fed by the thread-carrier b. In the position shown in Fig. 9 the thread-carrier a has finished its movement to the right and the thread-carrier I), standing behind a, begins to move. In this movement the thread-carrier a. has fed the needle 5 with thread 0, which needle is about to shut its hook by its latch in the usual manner. The needles 6, 7, and 8 are held by the straight groove 9 in such aposition that their latches are still open. It is easily to be seen that by addition of this straight groove the forming of the meshes and the closing of the latch-n eedles are caused to take place at a very great distance (equal to the distance of four or more needles from one another) from the thread-carrier, so that the thread is guided nearly horizontally. By this we insure a good working and filling of the needles, and the advantage is attained that if the thread-carrier a has reached its extreme position on one side, and if the second thread-carrier b begins to move, time is gained to lower the first thread-carrierwithout crossing the Way of the second carrier. In the position shown in Fig.

inclined plane 19 in such a manner thatit stands at last in position as shown in Fig. 8, and at that time'just the border needle 9 of the first strip closes its head after having taken up the thread. This needle 9, like all the others, is lowered by the groove 9 of the lock 'L, which is moved to the right, and in the' same manner the thread-carrier is lowered, so that if the last needle 9 (of the first division) has gained the position of the needle 6 (shown in Fig.9) the thread-carrier a stands closely over it andfeeds the thread to this last needle of the first division too, and that is the purpose of the combination, and this takes place in-a moment, where the second thread-carrier 1) stands already at a certain distance, so that the lowering thread-carrier does not cross the way ofthe other. The purpose of the straight groove in the locks is to postpone the closing of the latch-needles and to gain time for the closing of the last needles of each division, and this, in combination with the lowered thread-carrier for feeding with certainty the lastneedles of each division, forms the invention.

In the drawings is shown a knitting-machine with two thread-carriers. It is obvious that for serving diverse purposes the machine may work with three, four, or five thread-carriers. This involves no change in the invention, but only a multiplying of the arrangements. In-

deed, there is only shown in the drawings one compartment of the whole machine. In practice there are many locks and many compartments arranged side by side on the same machine, and each of these compartments, working as described, is coupled with the others and Works together with them, each one making a strip of ware.

This invention is to be applied to all knitting-machines working with latch-needles on one or two beds.

We are aware that prior to our invention knittingmachines with several thread-carriers were already known, as well as locks with horizontal grooves; but

Vhat we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

The combination of locks having needleoperating grooves formed with straight por- 

